The state should buy a portion of the land and the statue from Braun's Bethlehem

Prague – The state should buy a part of the land in Nový les near Kuks for four million crowns excluding tax, where a group of sculptures called the Bethlehem created by the Baroque artist Matyáš Bernard Braun is located. A part of the public procurement, which was informed to the government today by the Minister of Culture in resignation Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD), is also the purchase of the stone statue of the hermit Juan Garin with his cave. The contracting authority of the public procurement is the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ).

The purchase should consolidate the area of the national cultural monument of the Braun Bethlehem complex near Kuks, which will thus be exclusively owned by the state and managed by the National Heritage Institute, allowing for better and more systematic care and its overall rehabilitation in the coming years.

Braun's Bethlehem is located near Baroque Kuks, which was restored a few years ago at a cost of 440 million crowns. In 2001, the Bethlehem was declared a national cultural monument and listed on the indicative list of UNESCO heritage, allowing it to compete for inclusion on the UNESCO cultural heritage list.

Most of the sculptures in Nový les still belong to the state, which manages them through the NPÚ. Only the statue of the hermit Juan Garin belongs to the municipality of Hřibojedy, and the statue of the lamb belongs to the town of Dvůr Králové nad Labem. The Hradec Králové Region has sought to ensure that this rare monument has a single owner, namely the state.

Matyáš Bernard Braun was born on February 24, 1684, and died on February 15, 1738. Braun is one of the greatest masters of Czech Baroque sculpture and carving. He significantly enriched the decoration of Charles Bridge with the group statue of St. Ivo, accompanied by the female figure of Justice. He achieved particular success with St. Luitgarda, a blind saint to whom Christ bowed from the cross.

After these two successful commissions, Braun began to prosper in Prague, settling there and founding a sculpting workshop that thrived for two decades. However, most people associate the name Braun with the sculptural decoration of the former spa town of Kuks near Dvůr Králové and the unique complex of works in the nearby Nový les.

While the sandstone sculptures of Virtues and Vices from the ramp in front of the hospital in Kuks have been replaced with copies, Braun's Bethlehem, Mary Magdalene, and the hermits Garinus and Onufrius remain in their places. However, the sculptures carved from stones and rocks in the forest have been heavily damaged. A few years ago, research provided a recommended protection procedure, based on which this year students from the Faculty of Restoration of the University of Pardubice in Litomyšl cleaned the Bethlehem and subsequently chemically treated it preventively.